Follow the Leader by Mel Sherratt

stopped to think of that. ‘I don’t think that’s a good idea,’ she said.
    Joe frowned. ‘Why not?’
    ‘He’s going to be traumatised. Maybe he’d be better staying with Kelvin and Ollie, people he’s with all the time.’
    ‘I’m his father, for fuck’s sake. I know him better than anyone.’
    ‘You know what I mean.’ Rhian went to him and touched his arm. ‘Ollie is his brother. You can’t split them up when they’ve both lost their mum.’
    Joe gave a dry laugh, its tone nasty. ‘Don’t worry. I knew he wouldn’t be able to stay here. You’re hardly mother material, are you?’
    ‘Joe!’ Rhian dropped her hand as if she’d been burnt by his touch.
    ‘Well, you’re not, are you? You’re too full of yourself to care about anyone else.’ Joe stopped. ‘I need to take a shower.’
    ‘But you’ve just got dressed! Joe – Joe!’
    Joe turned back to her as he got to the en-suite. ‘You tell the police nothing, do you hear?’
    ‘I don’t have anything to tell them.’ Rhian scowled. ‘But you’re clearly hiding something.’
    He grabbed her roughly by the arm and pulled her near, until she was an inch away from his face. ‘Nothing! Do you hear?’
    ‘Yes! I hear you.’ Rhian tried to shrug away her arm. ‘Let go, you’re hurting me!’
    ‘Say it!’
    ‘I won’t tell them anything!’
    Joe pushed her away before slamming the door in her face. She moved to sit on the edge of the unmade bed. Christ, the morning was going from bad to worse.
    There had been no love lost between her and Suzi. Neither of them had liked each other from the moment they had met. Yet, even though they’d been divorced for a long time, any moron could see that Suzi still had feelings for Joe. Rhian cast her mind back – what had she called her when they’d first been introduced? A trophy girlfriend, something young to show off on his arm. Suzi had told Joe that he was having a mid-life crisis. Suzi had told her , very unkindly she’d thought, that Joe was on the rebound and needed to be careful of people like her – the cheeky bitch. They’d been separated for seven years by that time – how the hell could Joe be on the rebound?
    God, but dead. As shocked as Rhian was, though, she couldn’t help but think that Suzi Porter had got what she deserved. She was a bitch – Joe was always telling her that. And it did get her out of the picture for good now – despite the circumstances, Rhian was definitely thankful for that. Perhaps now Joe would be able to concentrate on her more often too. He’d always been sloping off to mee t Suzi, saying there was a problem with Jayden that she wanted to discuss with him.
    A cold shiver ran through her. Had they really been meeting to discuss Jayden? She frowned as her mind went into overdrive. Something wasn’t adding up and she was determined to find out what it was.
    Where had Joe really been all those nights he said he’d been working late?

    Joe stripped off again quickly, stepped into the shower and turned on the water. As the spray poured over him, he lifted his face, letting his tears mingle for a moment before slapping his palm against the tiled wall. He wanted to scream, but Rhian would hear him. How could Suzi be dead?
    But then panic set in. Rhian was right. The police would come sniffing around; he’d be one of the first suspects. It was always the family who were questioned first. This was such bad timing for him. But, more to the point, he couldn’t believe the stupid bitch would even begin to question him about where he was last night.
    Fuck – what if the police started digging around to see what he was really doing? And if Ryder got wind that he was to blame for bringing the law into his offices, then he’d be in trouble anyway. Screwed, no matter which way he turned.
    Joe had worked as general manager at Car Wash City for three years, ever since the last manager had disappeared and Terry Ryder had been sent to prison. Before that, he’d